The president tweeted Monday, April 15 that the Department of Homeland Security would be seeking to place asylum seekers in sanctuary cities and states.

Myrick, who is seeking a third term as mayor this year, cited Ithaca's diversity as a strength and questioned how serious President Trump should be taken, having tweeted all sorts of rhetoric in the last two years with varying amounts of follow-through.

"It's odd that he thinks he's calling a bluff of some sort," Myrick said to WAMC in Albany. "When we say that our city has been made stronger, healthier and has better economy because of the refugees and immigrants that have settled here over the last hundred years, we mean it."

Donald Trump speaks to a crowd March 12 in Kansas City, Missouri.(Photo: AP)

Those Illegal Immigrants who can no longer be legally held (Congress must fix the laws and loopholes) will be, subject to Homeland Security, given to Sanctuary Cities and States!

The term sanctuary city, while not a legal term, has taken on significant political clout since the election of Trump, an immigration hardliner, in 2016. In the wake of his election, states, cities and even small municipalities have passed resolutions expressing their support of immigrant communities and refusing to cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security, specifically its enforcement arm Immigration and Customs Enforcement — or ICE.

The City of Ithaca Common Council voted in early 2017 to declare itself a sanctuary city and has fought back against proposed cuts to federal funding for cities refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

The Trump administration has targeted such jurisdictions for what they say is violations of federal law. Trump went as far as signing an Executive Order on Jan. 25 that aimed to withhold all federal funding from jurisdictions that have acted as sanctuaries for immigrants.

That Executive Order has been repeatedly rejected under legal challenge, citing Congress' spending authority - meaning appropriations of funds is outside the authority of the president, and the 10th Amendment of the Constitution which guarantees the protection of state's rights.